Three Colors: White

Drama | Polish and French with English subtitles | 87 minutes

Info

Karol, a Polish emigré living in Paris, is being divorced by his beautiful wife Dominique. The grounds for the divorce are humiliating to Karol: He has not been able to consummate the marriage since their honeymoon. The French judge totally sympathizes with Dominique. Karol is stripped of his cash, his residence, his credit cards. He becomes a beggar in the Metro station, performing songs on his makeshift kazoo for spare change. A fellow Pole, Mikolaj, recognizes the Polish songs Karol is playing and strikes a conversation. Sensing Karol’s desperate situation, Mikolaj offers Karol a deal: He will fly Karol back to Poland, even though Karol doesn’t have money or a passport. In return Karol agrees to murder a depressed person who wants to die. The depressed person prefers to be murdered rather than have his family suffer the shame of his suicide. Mikolaj stuffs Karol in his large suitcase and checks it at the airport. Karol makes contact with Mikolaj in Warsaw. Mikolaj tells Karol that he is the person who wants to die. When Karol’s pistol shoots a blank, the killing does not take place. At a job he has, Karol overhears a rumor about the development of a large land deal. Karol manages to purchase pieces of the property and he becomes very wealthy. With money and a restored self-confidence, Karol schemes a way of getting revenge on Dominique. His plan succeeds but rather than be overjoyed, Karol is saddened by what he did. The truth is Karol is still deeply in love with Dominique.

Cast

Zbigniew Zamachowski (Karol Karol) / Julie Delpy (Dominique Vidal) / Janusz Gajos(Mikolaj)

Why Stream This Film?

A rare Kieslowski film that combines tragedy and pathos with some well-placed humor. In this film, it’s the man who achieves “equality” with his ex-wife. The film reaches a high point as the over-confident Karol has the means of exacting revenge. He succeeds but his satisfaction is mixed with sadness.

Rotten Tomatoes Score (Critics Consensus): 87%
Metacritic Score: 88

Accolades

75th Venice Film Festival, Winner, Golden Lion
Ten Academy Award Nominations. Winner: Best Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón), Best Cinematographer (Alfonso Cuarón)
Festivals: Venice, Telluride, Toronto, New York
Best Film of 2018: Time Magazine and The New York Film Critics Circle